Resilient compound lever.



W. V. GILBERT. RESILIENT COMPOUND LEVER. APPLICATION nun mm 2a, 1909.

' 966,325, Patented Aug. 2,1910.

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w. v. GILBERT. RESILIEN T COMPOUND LEVER. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 29, 1908.

Patented Aug. 2, 1910.

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WALTER v. GILBERT, or LONDON, ENGLAND.

RESILIENT comrounn Lavina Specification. of Ietters ZPatent.

Application filed June 29, 1908. Serial No. 440,891.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, WALTER V. GILBERT, a subject of the Kin of Great Britain, residing in the city of ondon, county of Middlesex, England, have invented an Improvement in Resilient Compound Levers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to resilient compound levers formedof spring material and having opposing members, hereinafter referred to as lever arms, and a back part connecting the lever arms, and being so constructed that when the tolateral compression said arms are caused to move in another direction, that is to say, recede from each other at their free ends, and when such part is released from pressdre, the device resumes, or resiles to, its normal form or condition. Resilient devices of this class, operating so that their free ends approach each other when subjected to pressure, are described in several Letters Patent of the United States issued to me, noticeably in No. 833,042, dated Oct. 9, 1906, No. 837,217, dated Nov. 27, 1906, and No. 846,561, dated Nov. 12, 1907, said devices being formed by bowinga blank of resilient sheet metal orof other spring material, the extended and opposing members constituting the lever arms eing thus connected by a bowed back which is transversely indented so as to produce angularly disposed outwardly tapering components whose angle to each other 1s varied when their apical ends are subjected to compression, and thus caused to approach each other, which in turn causes the approach each other, the said arms resuming their normal open position when the device is released from such compression.

The present invention has for its objects, to enable such devices to be made as normally closed devices'the lever arms of which -Will open when. the lateral compression is 'a plied and will resile to their normally c osed condition when released from actuation, to enable an increased variety of motions similar or dlssimilar and 1n vertical I horizontal or inclined directions to be given to the lever arms or one thereof of such devices by appropriate manipulations of the back part of the devices in horizontal vertical or inclined directions, and to enable the back to be made in a variety of shapes, some having specific functional value, to the end that the utility and practical applications of back part is subjected applied to its ends the connected rear The improved device may be made in a ever arms to various functions,

cross section on 'line 4- 1 of Fig. 2.

such compound levers may be extended. To theseends, the invention is characterized by forming such compound levers with'a back part divided t ansversely by a free opening or slot which a so extends well into the lever arms toward their free ends, whereby the back part: and the adjacent portions of the lever arms have a bifurcated formation, the opposite sides or members of the fork bein adapted to be pressed together or toward each other laterally,

end part of each lever arm is left entire or .undivided by such opening or slot.

The slotting or bifurcation of the device well into the lever arms enables it to be made as a normally closed device, irrespectively of the shape of the back, and enables it to be actuated by lateral compression and with eater ease than would be the case if such ifurcation were not adopted, as, all other parts and proportions of the device bemg equal it will be found that the further the s 0t extends into the lever arms the lesser will be the amount of power required to actuate the device.

while the outer or free- In this invention the lever arms are formed with a longitudinal depression or groove in the outer side. In other words, the lever arms are in the present device in cross section convex toward each other on their inner sides. The back part may be of a bowed formation outcurving away from, or incurving between, the lever arms, and in some cases may be disposed vertically straight, and may also be madein other suita le shapes, or may consist of the directly ends of the lever arms.

considerable variety of forms adapted for and, by way of example, is widely applicable for various holding devices, some of which are hereinafter described and for o crating various toy structures, for examp e, such as, or resembling, those described in U. S. Letters Patent N 0. 837,216, and 837,217, dated Nov. 27, 1906, and No. 846,560, dated March 12, 1907, granted to me. i

The invention is hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which- I Figure 1 is a perspective view of a form of my device which is normally closed; and Fig. 2 is a side view of the same in the open position. Fig. 3 is a plan view. Fig. 4 a

,one of the forms.

5 is a perspective view of the device in connection with a bar that may be employed for uid-ing the compressible members of the ork and also for supporting the device in any desired position. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the blank from which the said device is formed. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a modified form of the normally closed device, the back of the same bein straight; and Fig. 8 is a similar view the open position. Fig. 9 is a pers ective view of a modification in which the hack is curved inwardly. Fig. 10 is a side or ed e view; and Fig. 11 is a plan view, of a mo 1- 'fied form of the normally closed device in which the back parts are closely connected. F1 s. 12 and 13 are cross sections on lines 12 and 13 respectively of Fig. 11.

To clearly distinguish the several forms of my invention illustrated in the drawings, I have indicated them sem'atz'm by capital letters A to D inclusive.

Figs. 1 to 13 inclusive, illustrate various forms of the device some showing the device in its normal condition and some showing it in a condition as opened by lateral pressure applied to the back. A indicates The lever arms a are united by, and formed integrally with, a bowed or circular back a which is divided by the slot or opening a that extends well into each lever arm pro er toward its free end, so as to cause said ack a and the adjacent parts or rear ends of the lever arms to be of a forked or bifurcated formation the outer or free end part of each lever arm bein left entire or undivided by such slot. The ever arms a are provided with a groove or depression, upon the outer side, the same extending longitudinall from the slot a to or toward the free on s of the lever arms. This arrangement of the grooves or depressions assists to induce the opening apart of the free ends of the lever arms when lateral pressure is applied at the back parts thereof 1n direction of the arrows Fig. 3. In use the device is taken and held say by the thumb and finger transversely of the back, the lateral pressure is then exerted thus causing the free ends of the lever arms to 0 en. They can then be placed over a piece of sugar or other object, the lateral pressure is then released and the object will be ripped and held until such time as the Fateral ressure be rexerted when the object wil be freed.

In Figs. 1 to 5, the back a is shown bowed or curved practically upon the are of a circle, and the lever arms proper a are grooved, or indented, longitudinally, at (1 from near the slot a up to their flat free ends. The groove or indent being in the outer side of the lever arms, they are necessarily convex to each other on the inner side. Each of the back parts or curved forked portions (1 is of t e same 1n provided on the outer side with a lug or ear' a". The lugs or ears project backward and stand nearly parallel and serve as points for application of lateral compression by means of thumb and finger. The direction in which pressure is applied is indicated by arrows in Fig. 3, and the effect is to cause the lever arms a to open as shown in Fig. 2; but when the pressure is released they will obviously close, or resume the closed position shown in Fig. 1, by reason of the resiliency of the device. The opening apart of the lever arms when pressure is applied at the back of the device in direction and manner aforesaid, is due mainly to the groove or indent a in the lever arms, or, in other words, to their convexity toward each other. Fig. 6 illustrates the blank from which the described device is formed, the blank being referably a piece of thin sprin sheet metal, ut it will be understood that I do not propose to restrict myself to a particular material.

In Fig. 5 I show a guide through the ln s or cars. This is or the purpose of hol mg the bifurcated back portions of the devicein alinement when com pressed. The bar is also made polygonal or else oval in cross section, in order to hold the device horizontal or in any other position, or in brief prevent rotation. It is thus distinguished from the rod whiehconnects the ends of the bowed back of the device covered by my foundation Patent No. 833,0{12, which rod serves to delimit the movementsv of the back members from each other and cannot prevent rotary-movement of the device.

The form B shown in Figs. 7 and 8 is constructed on the same general principle as the form A already described, it being also of the normally closed type and adapted to open, as shown in Fig. 8, when lateral pressure is applied to the bifurcated back portion I). These ortions are straight instead of being curved as in Figs. 1 to 5, andthe slot 6 is preferably extended farther into the lever arms. The latter are indented longitudinally to a very slight degree, since with the slot extended and the back also extended vertically, as shown, it ispracticable to cause the free ends of the arms to .open by lateral pressure applied to the back Z) when there is but a slight predetermined inclination of the sides of the lever arms toward the middle.

In Fig. 9, I show another form C, which is the same as form B, save that the back 0 is incurved.

In Figs. 10 to 13 inclusive, I show another variation D, of the device, the lever arms (Z being convex toward each other on the inner side, as in the form A, but the back portions d are differently formed in that, instead of being spaced apart from each bar a assing other, they lie close together or else flat upon each other. In other words, the parts constitutin the bifurcated back (1 are formed by foldlng the back parts or rear ends of the lever arms flatwise upon each other. In this case as in the forms A, B, before described, the lever arms are opened by applying lateral compression to the edges of the folded back parts d, in the direction of the arrows, Fig. 11.

From the foregoing description and the illustrations, it is apparent that the improved device may be modified in various ways, to adapt it to particular uses, and that it may be adapted, together with any suitable means for controllin the extent or direction of the movement 0% its parts, for producing particular movements of the lever arms for any purpose, such as seizing and supporting or suspending articles; also that the operation of the device may be confined to a given field of action, as for example, in Fig. 5.

In any form, when lateral compression is applied to the back or bifurcated portions, the free ends of the lever arms are caused to open apart and will, upon release of the compression, resume their normal closed position .and the device resume its normal condition and shape by reason of the unrestricted resiliency of the device.

The device is preferably made integral but may be constructed of a number of pieces suitably connected together.

The slot or slots in the present invention enable the cross section of the lever arms to be made convex in relation to each other and the back part to be made in a variety of different shapes, some having specific functional value.

It is preferable that the lever arms in any form of the device described should be formed at the outset with a decided longitudinal groove, but one or both thereof may be in some cases approximately flat in cross section, in which case the lever arms will only under actuation of the device assume a pronounced cross section convexity toward each other.

\Vhat I claim is:

1. A resilient device embodying the principle of a compound lever, the same comprising lever arms arranged opposite each other and a back part which connects them and is provided with a free or unobstructed slot or opening that extends well into the said arms, the latter having each a centrallongitudinal groove located between the end of the slot and free end of the arm, substantially as shown and described.

2. A resilient device embodying the principle of a compound lever, the same comprising lever arms arranged opposite each other and a back part which connects them and is provided with a longitudinal slot or opening that extends well into said arms, the latter having a lengthwise groove or concavity on the outer side and a corresponding rib or convexity on the inner side and extending from the inner end of the slot to the free outer end of the arm, substantially as shown and described.

WALTER V. GILBERT. Vitnesses:

SoLoN C. KEMoN, AMos W. HART.) 

